


Promise

by malevolentmango



Series: Promise/Forever [1]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Taako has abandonment issues, also a warning for non-painful non-descriptive character death I guess??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-23 22:48:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13200195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/malevolentmango/pseuds/malevolentmango
Summary: “I'm not going anywhere.”Kravitz has never had a mantra before, but he thinks the general idea is that it's something you say just for yourself. An encouragement to make it through hard times, to rise above, to find the strength within yourself to attempt whatever needs to be done.His mantra is not for himself. It's for Taako. But he says it often enough that he figures he's allowed to call it his own anyway.





	Promise

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to [distractedkat](http://archiveofourown.org/users/distractedkat) for betaing this and leaving such wonderful comments! <3

“I'm not going anywhere.”

 

Kravitz has never had a mantra before, but he thinks the general idea is that it's something you say just for yourself. An encouragement to make it through hard times, to rise above, to find the strength within yourself to attempt whatever needs to be done.

 

His mantra is not for himself. It's for Taako. But he says it often enough that he figures he's allowed to call it his own anyway.

 

~~~

 

“You should, you know, stay for a bit,” Taako says one night as they step through a rift back to Taako's dorm on the moon base. He's never stayed the night before. Taako is avoiding Kravitz's eyes, carefully examining his turquoise-painted nails. His voice warbles into a higher, shakier octave. “If you want to. It's no big deal.”

 

Kravitz smiles, catching Taako's hand in his own. He says, “I'm not going anywhere,” and Taako does look at him then, a flicker of something like disbelief in his eyes that Kravitz is pretty sure he's not supposed to see. It's gone in an instant, replaced with casual nonchalance.

 

“Well of course, you'd be a fool to turn down some quality hang time with yours truly,” Taako says. He uses their joined hands to pull Kravitz towards the door to his room.

 

Once they're inside, he doesn't let go.

 

~~~

 

His stone of farspeech rings late one night - he assumes it's late, anyway. Time is more of a concept in the Astral Plane than an actual measurement. He answers it immediately, grateful for the distraction from his paperwork in a way he never used to be.

 

It helps that it's his favorite kind of distraction.

 

“Hello, Taako.”

 

Taako chuckles, and when he speaks his voice is muffled, like he's already face down in bed. “How do you always know it's me?”

 

“Fantasy caller ID.”

 

“No shit?” He can just barely hear Taako giggling. It brings a smile to his face.

 

“Truthfully, you're uh… you're the only one who has this frequency.” Kravitz shrugs even though Taako can't see him. “I suppose the Raven Queen has it too, but she has other methods of contacting me.”

 

“Wow,” Taako says, “that either makes me like, really special, or you a total dork loser.”

 

“Definitely the first one.”

 

Taako's quiet for a moment, and there's a ruffle of cloth like he's shifting around in bed. Then he says, “Hey, Krav?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“This is normally the part where I'd invite you over, but… I'm kinda beat.” And Kravitz realizes, then, how exhausted he sounds. “The Director is working us like crazy, we're doing all this new training, as if we're not total badasses already. Anyway, do you think you could, uh--if it's uh, not too weird--” Taako cuts himself off with a frustrated huff.

 

“What is it, Taako?”

 

Taako sighs. “Could you just… talk to me? Until I fall asleep? I kinda just miss yo--your dope ass voice. Is that weird? That's weird, right? Forget I said anything--”

 

“Taako,” Kravitz says over his continued rambling. Taako stops talking. “Don't worry about it. I'm not going anywhere.”

 

“Huh. Sweet.”

 

They talk until Taako can only respond with one word answers, and then until he doesn't respond at all. Kravitz listens to his soft, even breathing filtering through the stone for a few moments before he finally clicks it off.

 

His paperwork seems far less important than it did before.

 

~~~

 

He's sinking, drowning, grasping for something to hold on to, but the inky blackness pulls him in and in and in, relentless and unforgiving. It chokes him from the inside and out, clinging to his limbs in thick ropes everytime he tries to lift himself out of it.

 

There's no escape. But he has to find one anyway.

 

It feels like hours of struggling before he finally breaks the surface. The blackness covers everything. He is alone.

 

But a circle of bright, white light appears in the distance, and he knows, somehow, who's on the other side of it. He treads dark water, just hoping for a glimpse - he knows the shape of this portal, and it's not the kind you come back from. He watches as Magnus starts to fall through, and there's nothing he can do to stop it, he's losing two inches of footing for every one that he gains…

 

But then, there's Taako.

 

Kravitz isn't sure how he’s doing it, but he's pulling Magnus back through. He thinks Taako's eyes find him in the sea of darkness for just a moment before the portal closes.

 

And he says, to no one, to Taako, to the abundant shadows, to himself: “I'm not going anywhere.”

 

~~~

 

When Kravitz finds Taako after escorting Legion back to the Astral Plane on the Day of Story and Song, Taako is already asleep.

 

He needs it, Kravitz thinks, taking in the sight of him passed out, spread-eagle, on his bed. He's snoring softly. Kravitz smiles.

 

He hesitates, for just a second, but then he goes to sit carefully on the edge of the bed. Before he can decide whether or not to wake him up, Taako stirs, blinking up at him in confusion. Meditating, then. Not even able to truly sleep.

 

Kravitz doesn't have to ask why.

 

Taako's face settles into a little smile. “Hey,” he says groggily, flopping a hand out over the sheets, searching for Kravitz. He catches Taako's hand and gives it a squeeze.

 

“Hey.”

 

“You put all the ghosts back in their box?”

 

“Yes. It took longer than I thought it would.”

 

Taako hums. “Missed you.” He blinks blearily up at Kravitz. “You didn't hear that from me.”

 

Kravitz laughs. “Of course not.”

 

“Take your coat off, my dude, stay awhile.”

 

Kravitz doesn't need telling twice. He takes off his cloak, shoes, and pants and climbs into bed next to Taako, who immediately wraps all four limbs around him and buries his head in Kravitz's chest.

 

“Stay,” Taako says. It's clearly meant to be a command, but it comes out more like a plea.

 

Kravitz presses a kiss into Taako's hair. “I'm not going anywhere.”

 

Taako doesn't say anything else for so long that Kravitz thinks he might have actually fallen asleep this time. But then he says, so quietly that Kravitz almost doesn't hear him, “You know what you said, when we had our big fantasy Oscar-worthy reunion back there? That you, you know…”

 

“That I love you?”

 

“Right.” Taako's ears flick upwards briefly, the way they do when he's happy - Kravitz can feel them moving against his chest. “That. Yeah. Was that, you know, like a real thing or…”

 

Kravitz runs a gentle hand down Taako's back, and a little bit of the tension he's carrying eases out of him. “Absolutely. Every word.”

 

“Right,” Taako says again, sounding somewhere between bewildered and ecstatic. “I can't uh… I can't really, you know, say it back.”

 

“I don't expect you to.”

 

“Right.” This time, he's definitely edging into bewildered. “But I--fuck.” Taako's grip on his shirt tightens, as if he wishes he could force the words out through his fingers instead. “You know I… you know?”

 

“I know, Taako.”

 

“Right. Good! Fantastic.” Taako clings to him. Kravitz clings right back, all the stresses of this very long day fading into the background, finally, now that he gets to hold Taako in his arms.

 

There is no place he would rather be.

 

~~~

 

Kravitz comes home after a week-long bounty hunting job, bouncing back and forth between Neverwinter and the Astral Plane as he, Barry, and Lup worked tirelessly to rout out a particularly troublesome necromancy cult, to find their house filled with people.

 

There’s almost no room to stand, and the people in the living room where he opened the rift all turn to stare at him before they shrug and go back to their conversations.  


He recognizes none of them. But they have all the hallmarks of the chefs, wizards, and entrepreneurs that Taako likes to wine and dine in his pursuit to build up his brand around the world (and in fact the entire planar system). And Kravitz is always happy to find Taako doing what he loves.

 

It’s just that they’re all so _loud._

 

A glance around the corner reveals Taako and Ren in the kitchen, plating up what looks like some kind of pastry and passing it around to the nearest partygoers. Taako notices him when he looks up from his careful slicing, and his eyes light up. He gestures with a nod of his head for Kravitz to join them in the kitchen, but… more than anything, Kravitz just needs a break.

 

He shakes his head and points to the ceiling before dragging himself upstairs to their bedroom. He sheds his clothes and leaves them where they fall, to be dealt with in the morning, and climbs directly into bed. The party is still raging downstairs, but maybe if he just… puts a pillow over his head or something…

 

Kravitz gives it about two minutes before he feels too silly and tosses the pillow away with a sigh. He’s just exhausted enough that he can probably sleep through anything.

 

He realizes, abruptly, that the noise has stopped. He listens closely; the people are still there, he thinks, but they’re talking in quickly dying murmurs. And he can hear Taako, making shooing sounds, and Kravitz barely makes out the words, “That’s right, party’s over, get out!”

 

Kravitz sits up, and a few moments later he hears Taako climbing the stairs. The door opens, slowly, and Taako pokes his head in. When he sees that Kravitz is awake, he bounds into the room and throws his arms around him, and Kravitz chuckles, circling his arms around Taako’s waist.

 

“You didn’t have to kick them out,” he says, his words muffled where his face is pressed into Taako’s chest.

 

“They were starting to bore me anyway.”

 

“Come on, Taako.”

 

Taako leans against Kravitz more fully, arms tightening around his shoulders. He rests his cheek on the top of Kravitz’s head.

 

“You’re, you know… you’re more important, and shit,” he says. “I just… I know it’s probably tiresome, me having all these parties and events and--and things. I don’t want you to…”

 

He’s trembling, just slightly, and clearly trying to hold it in check. Kravitz isn’t having that at all. He pulls Taako down into the bed with him; Taako lets out a surprised yelp, but doesn’t protest when Kravitz tucks him under the covers and proceeds to lay on him so he can’t move.

 

“Taako, I love you. I’m not going anywhere,” he says. “No matter how many parties you throw. But since you’re already here, you get to be my pillow while I pass the fuck out.”

 

Taako laughs and settles in. “Not a problem, my dude.” If his words sound a little watery, Kravitz doesn’t comment on it.

 

When Kravitz wakes up late the next morning, he can hear Taako puttering around downstairs, yelling something into his stone of farspeech about “my brand, my rules, _Craig,_ and if those pamphlets aren’t mauve I’m _suing.”_ And all of the clothes he tossed onto the floor last night have been neatly folded or hung up in the closet where they belong.

 

~~~

 

There’s an accident, one day. And Kravitz isn’t there to stop it, but he does show up just in time to pick up the pieces.

 

Tres Horny Boys may not officially be in the business of saving the world anymore - once, they insist, was more than enough - but they still go adventuring once in a while, for old times’ sake, even though Magnus’s hair is graying almost faster than Merle’s and the beginnings of age lines have started to form around Taako’s eyes. With as much as those three have been through, it’s easy to assume that they’re invincible.

 

That’s not the case, today.

 

Magnus calls him on his stone of farspeech, telling him in the voice of someone who’s trying very hard not to panic that they got the bad guys! They’re all vanquished! Magnus hit them real good! But Taako… he could really use an express planar rift ride out of there.

 

Kravitz barely even listens to the end of his sentence. His scythe is already in his hand.

 

He finds them on the edge of a rocky outcrop somewhere west of Goldcliff. The bodies of several vanquished monsters lay scattered across the loose stones that form the ground here, blood seeping through the gaps. Magnus is kneeling a short distance away, holding Taako still as Merle casts some sort of spell over him.

 

And Taako… Taako is screaming.

 

It raises the hairs on the back of his neck and chills him to the bone. He’s never heard Taako make a noise like this before, and from the shell-shocked look on Magnus’s face, he hasn’t either. Kravitz is kneeling beside him in an instant, and Merle fills him in on what happened, shouting to be heard over Taako’s anguished howls.

 

“We thought it was over! But one of those _assholes_ was still kickin’ and he cast something on Taako. None of my healing spells are working - he doesn’t even seem hurt!”

 

Magnus chimes in: “We didn’t hear what spell it was. By the time he was dead, Taako was like this.”

 

Kravitz looks Taako over, trying to focus over the sounds of his husband’s suffering. He doesn’t appear to be bleeding, except for his hands, where his fists are clenched so tight that his nails are digging into his skin, reopening the wounds as fast as Merle’s spell can heal them. Nothing is broken, or bruised; his clothes aren’t even torn.

 

A curse then, perhaps?

 

Kravitz hasn’t used his bard magic in centuries. He hopes he can still pull together enough power for a greater restoration spell.

 

He lays a gentle hand on Taako’s forehead and begins to chant, and after a moment a glowing light begins spreading from his fingertips. Magnus lets go of Taako - there’s no need to hold him when he’s stopped thrashing. His screams grow softer and shorter, until finally they’re nothing but whimpers as Kravitz finishes his spell. Taako’s eyes flutter open slowly, squinting in the sunlight, and when he sees Kravitz hovering over him, he lets out a whine that’s somehow more painful than the screaming had been.

 

“Krav…” he whispers in a voice so broken that Magnus and Merle both look away. It’s not at all like Taako to be like this - so raw and weak and lacking in bluster and energy.

 

Kravitz doesn’t even say anything to the other two; he scoops Taako up in his arms and opens a rift into their home, not even paying attention to where they’re going. It’s the living room, as it turns out, and he deposits Taako carefully on the couch. He ends up with Taako’s head in his lap, brushing his fingers slowly through his hair. Taako trembles occasionally, but he doesn’t speak for a long time, just wallows in whatever nightmare the curse conjured up.

 

After several minutes, during which Kravitz has braided, undone, and rebraided Taako’s hair twice, Taako finally says, “Everyone left.”

 

Kravitz freezes, his fingers still twined in Taako’s hair. “Whatever you saw, Taako, it wasn’t real.”

 

Taako shakes his head, dislodging Kravitz’s fingers. “They were all gone. Lup left again and Barry lost his shit, Merle and Dav fucked off to who knows where, Magnus was--” He chokes on the words as if they physically repulse him. “--he was _dead,_ and Ango too, and you…” He shivers, curls in on himself, and doesn’t finish the sentence.

 

“We’re all still here, Taako. That curse was just… I don’t know exactly what it was, but it sounds like it was showing you your worst fears.”

 

“That’s…” Taako stares up at him. His face is upside down from this angle, but Kravitz can still tell the moment Taako starts coming back to himself. “Wow. I’m a fucking sap.”

 

Kravitz snorts. “Yeah, welcome to the club, love.”

 

Taako sits up now, but he doesn’t go far. He only resettles himself so he’s practically sitting in Kravitz’s lap, and Kravitz wraps him up in his arms without needing to be asked.

 

“Don’t tell anyone,” Taako says. “My reputation will be in _shambles.”_

 

“I wouldn’t dream of ever telling your friends and family how much you care about them.”

 

“Okay _listen--”_

 

“And for the record,” Kravitz says, and Taako goes quiet. “I’m not going anywhere. And I’ll say it as many times as I have to until you believe it.”

 

He thinks that it’s as much a reassurance for him as it is for Taako.

 

Taako sighs, his warm breath puffing out against Kravitz’s neck.

 

“Yeah. Okay.”

 

~~~

 

Kravitz watches Taako die.

 

And in the space between moments, he returns to the Astral Plane and waits for Taako to arrive.

 

He looks like he did when they first met, Kravitz realizes upon seeing him materialize. Some souls prefer to look as they did when they died, some just go with being young again, and still others choose a moment of importance in their lives. And the Taako in front of him now is the one he met on that fateful and very stressful night in Lucas’s lab all those years ago.

 

He is radiant, even despite the white glow that all souls in the Astral Plane share. And Kravitz has never thought of Taako as being anything less than beautiful, but he’d almost forgotten _this,_ after so long.

 

“What’s up, bone daddy?” Taako says, as if nothing of import has happened in the last minute or so.

 

Kravitz laughs. “Welcome to the Astral Plane, love.”

 

“I mean, I’ve been here before, you know? Remember that vacation where I totally didn’t freak out at all, even a little bit? That was fun.”

 

“Well I hope you enjoyed it. You’re kind of stuck here now.”

 

Taako loops his arm through Kravitz’s, grinning. He sweeps his arm out in front of them, gesturing to the wide expanse of nothingness before them. “Well, give me the grand tour then. Wouldn’t want to miss anything.”

 

So Kravitz does. He takes him to the Eternal Stockade, and to the Soul Sea. They visit the Raven Queen, who positively coos over Taako in a way that Kravitz privately finds highly disturbing. He’s pretty sure entire _days_ pass on the Prime Material Plane while they’re in Julia’s house, which is entirely too small for the number of people who have gathered there to welcome Taako home. And finally, Kravitz takes him to a place in the Astral Plane where no one but him has ever been.

 

His house.

 

For centuries, this was where he spent his time when he wasn’t working. It never felt as much like a home, like a shelter, as his home with Taako did - it was just a place to rest between bounties, when those were the only things that mattered to him.

 

So much has changed, now. Not the least of which is the decor, which Taako notices immediately.

 

“Krav? Hey, Krav?” he says, looking around at the walls and the floors and the furniture, then back at Kravitz. “Babe, this is just our house. This is _our house,_ but in RQ’s hellscape.”

 

“Don’t call it that, darling.”

 

_“Krav.”_

 

“So I may have done a little redecorating.”

 

“A little?!” Taako’s voice breaks on the last syllable. Kravitz smiles.

 

“I wanted you to feel at home here.”

 

Taako just stares at him. Then, wordlessly, he pulls Kravitz into a searing kiss, right there in the entryway. Kravitz cups Taako’s cheek with one hand and leans into it gratefully. He’d wondered, perhaps foolishly, if things would be different between them after Taako died. But Taako feels just as vibrant as he always did, not deterred by his own passing in the slightest.

 

If anything, Kravitz probably should have been afraid for the other souls that reside here. Taako had always been a lot for the living to handle. He’ll probably be running the place in a week’s time. Kravitz chuckles at the thought.

 

“What’s so funny, Bones?”

 

“Nothing really. I’m just… glad you’re here? That sounds weird to say considering you just died.”

 

“A little bit weird, yeah. But I get it. You were probably getting tired of old man Taako, huh?”

 

Kravitz shakes his head and reaches for Taako’s left hand. The gold band still rests firmly on his finger, the only inconsistency about the image Taako chose for his soul to present.

 

“Not at all. Though I suppose he had his moments.” Taako snorts. “But you know me, darling. I love you. And I’m--”

 

“Not going anywhere, yeah, I got it. You’ve only been saying it for like a billion years,” Taako says, but he’s smiling the whole time, wide and so full of lightness and love that Kravitz has to kiss him again.

 

“About time you started believing it.”

 

Taako hums, a tiny vibration against his lips. “I think I mostly always did. But sometimes I needed to hear it.” Taako leans back to raise an eyebrow at him. “Sometimes, I think you did too.”

 

And he’s right, Kravitz thinks, of course he is. It was his mantra after all, just as much as it was Taako’s.

 

But there’s no reason for Kravitz to admit it. He’s got more important things to do. They have an entire afterlife to plan for, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Come chat with me about TAZ on [tumblr](http://malevolentmango.tumblr.com)!


End file.
